Satellite radio thoughts

[sp44again]

I chose Sirius because of the Rock stations. They are the best!

[StarvingForHDTV]

Originally posted by Racer47
As far as sound quality goes, I know the specs say it is not as good as cd quality, but I think it sounds every bit as good as cd's in my car. I have not used it in the house.

Thanks for the info.

Starving

[Racer47]

sp44again

How is your reception with Sirius? There seem to be more compaints about dropouts with Sirius than with XM. But I don't know anyone in the Milwaukee area with Sirius, except you. Which receiver do you have?

Thanks

[sp44again]

I have an in-dash Kenwood head unit. The only dropouts I get is when I go under a bridge. I think that is the same for everybody no matter if it's XM or Sirius. Other than that it is great. Go to fatwallet.com and search under the hot deals forum for Sirius. You can get a JVC plug and play unit for car or home for only $50! You can't beat that deal anywhere.

[mhz40]

I've had free XM in my new truck for 3 months.  Will probably not subscribe when it's over.
-On vacation last week, I had at least 6 instances where I lost reception for a few seconds... out in the middle of nowhere.
-Audio is not as good as the truck's CD player.
-Radio stations number over 100 but I could only find 3 that were worth tuning to on a regular basis.
-IMO, $10 is too much $ to listen to music for 5 hrs a month.
Maybe once were in total grid lock with the Marquette interchange project, the price/performace ratio will swing the other way.
:rofl:

MHz40

[StarvingForHDTV]

Thanks for your report MHz40.  Would you rate the sound quality as better than FM?

Starving

[Todd Wiedemann]

I've now had the Roady active for 1 week ...

I wanted to give it enough time before I posted.

In a word, great.

Would you rate the sound quality as better than FM?

Yep. You bet.

I first installed with the FM Modulator. I was depressed; there was virtually no low end in the car. In my office, I have a nice, powered sub and Altec Lansing flat-panel speakers. Sounds better than CD in my office. I quickly popped the cassette adapter in, and bam ! the low end woke up.

Radio stations number over 100 but I could only find 3 that were worth tuning to on a regular basis.

Wow. I have a little application that runs here on the desktop showing currently playing song. I have 16 setup, and there's not room for more, which I could use. Granted, I can't do this in the car, but I think that there are many great stations to choose from. (I've listened to three different songs on three different channels as I type this.)

In short XM works for me, in a big way. I've recently been assigned to a work location that requires 45-60 minutes in the car each way. I don't why I didn't do this sooner. (Well, I do, but ...)

[mhz40]

Originally posted by StarvingForHDTV
Thanks for your report MHz40.  Would you rate the sound quality as better than FM?

Starving

Yes, better than FM for sure.
Thinking back on the series of signal losses I heard, I would almost swear the transmission format is not digital.  Instead of cutting out, the sound kind of picked up some white noise and faded out... really not what I would have expected from a digital stream.  But it is digital, right?
:confused:

[Todd Wiedemann]

...the sound kind of picked up some white noise and faded out... really not what I would have expected from a digital stream.

Right. It is a digital stream. The receivers themselves have a 4 second buffer to assist in hiding drop-outs. What you heard was a > 4 sec. loss in signal.

[Todd Wiedemann]

Still loving XM. Anyone on the fence, don't hesitate.

You'll love it too.

[sp44again]

Ditto for Sirius!  :rock:

I forgot, Sirius just added the NFL Network if you don't get enough on DirecTV. Sweet for football freaks.

[Tom Snyder]

XM Rocks!  ... came with my new car. There are about a half dozen musical formats that appeal to me, and with TV News stations, comedy and talk, it's hard to pick one. I'm worse with it than my TV remote control.  Fideltiy is great... and it picks up a signal in my garage!

[Todd Wiedemann]

Welcome to the XM Nation, Tom. I agree. I find it difficult to stick to one station as well.

As for the garage, I don't retain a signal. Wonder why

Maybe there is a terrestrial repeater near your house ?

[Tom Snyder]

Any place you can go to see where the repeaters are, and what their power and range are?

[Todd Wiedemann]

Originally posted by Tom Snyder
Any place you can go to see where the repeaters are, and what their power and range are?

Incredibly enough, XM considers that information a "trade secret" ... however there is a company out there that has the lat/lon coordinates available for purchase for $10. I'm interested, but I don't think I'm $10 worth interested ... maybe, though.